Never Split the Party!

This is what happens when a non-artist attempts a logo.

One of my new projects is to record a game of Pathfinder (D&D 3.75, basically) that I'm playing over Google Hangouts and Roll20.

For now, you can find us streaming our games live every Monday night from 8:00pm (ish) to 10:00pm (ish) over at Twitch or see our previously recorded session on our YouTube channel! I'm planning on ripping the audio and converting them to audio-only podcasts eventually, but that's time consuming and I'm lazy.

We're also going to be posting out-of-session RP moments via the Never Split the Party! Podcast blog (say that ten times fast. Or even twice, kind of slowly). It's a vacant lot at the moment, but I'll have more going later this week.

Check us out, offer comments, suggestions, or insults, or just laugh at the stupid faces I make when I talk.

Seriously. It's just a big stupid head with stupid faces all over it.

^Made the parchment-looking area all by myself!

We're planning on spreading the NStP brand to other games we're playing and interested in recording, though for now we're just streaming the campaign titled: Pathfinder Society: Faerun Division. You can check out the blog (eventually) for more information on the world we're building.

Other projects include finishing Dragon Age: Origins and all of its DLC on PC (seriously going to happen this time) and eventually getting back into finishing the second draft of my book (which has decreased dramatically).

Oh, and if any artists out there want to throw a dog a bone and mock up a better banner for us, I'd be grateful! And maybe use less cliches. You never know, it could happen.

Hah.

The Nerd's Agenda

Howdy folks. Haven't had too much to write about, so haven't written!

My comic book backlog is fairly long right now. I've only bothered to keep current with Saga and Hawkeye, everything else is in a "to read" pile. I've been focusing more on my gaming than comics, however.

I have been reading The Erevis Cale Trilogy, which is a very decent Forgotten Realms set of novels about an interesting group of characters (the title character is interesting for the number of changes he goes through, which is reflective of how often players change their characters over the course of a campaign, by either adding templates or changing classes, etc..). I also picked up Guards! Guards!, by Terry Pratchett, and a collection of short stories known as Wild Cards, edited by George R. R. Martin. I'm pretty excited to start reading those, especially the Pratchett novel -- my experience with Discworld has been focused on Going Postal and Making Money, the former being on of my all-time favorite novels.

On the gaming front, I've still been trying to beat Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, but have gotten side tracked with Dragon Age: Origins, which I've played before but never on PC and never with all the DLC. I picked it up during the Steam Summer Sale, along with Mount and Blade: Warband (never played but am very excited to), Endless Space (a decent 4x, but I've not played enough to know how I'd rate it), and Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition (because I'm almost done with the first).

Just taking over the universe, don't mind me...

Beyond that, I've been working on a new project that will hopefully be unveiled soon. You can actually watch us streaming it Mondays at 8:00pm here, but I'm hoping to also eventually turn it into an edited podcast... More on that soon.

For movies and TV, I've been watching Bones with the wife and really enjoying it, and I'm rewatching Season 1 of Arrow, hoping season 2 will magically be on there when I'm done (it won't be, I've only got two episodes left). I'm eagerly anticipating Guardians of the Galaxy, but may have to put that on hold because I'm expected a daughter two days before it comes out! Gah!

Keep busy without getting much done, that's my motto!

Phase I: The Podcast is a Lie returns!

So. Yeah. We're late. Sorry! Expect us next Monday (and hopefully we won't disappoint). Issues this time were lacking our guru of recording and editing, Steve. Dustin was at the helm and, as usual, is a mess.



We played around with the recording and editing process in general for this episode, and we'd love to hear your feedback!

Not Tron.

Tron.

Episode 6 - The Podcast is a Lie

Tags coming soon! Seriously!

Revenge of the Nerd!

I'm back! Ish! We've moved into the MA house and are in the process of getting settled. My work situation and schedule are still up in the air, so I won't go on record saying expect regular postings starting now, but you can certainly expect more very soon!

Casa de Nerd. Well... Sotano de Nerd, anyway.

Today I am working on finishing The Podcast is a Lie's late podcast (hopefully finalize by the end of the day). I'd also like to set up the Nerd-Cave as much as possible (recognizing that I don't have much in the way of furniture down here yet...).

Towards the end of the week, I have some more time off and will bring my Pull List Reviews up to date (though it will be a synopsis of where the PLR is more than an individual title review, sorry!).

I'm also hoping to convince the Wife to allow me to see Riddick this weekend, even though we just bought a house, so there will (hopefully) be a movie review soon as well.

And, today or later in the week, I'll be doing a write up of news in the X-COM world. Be prepared, because the alien menace is hasn't let up just yet!

Alright, to the podcast! ... This is my first time being the sole editor on a 'case due to Steve's absence, hence the delay and, possibly, the quality... We'll see!

Episode V of The Podcast is a Lie

If you haven't already, add us to your iTunes! You can listen to us on the go from your phone and stuff!

Episode 5 of The Podcast is a Lie is here!



Episode notes:

Dustin is recording from his phone due to technical issues.

Dylan won't stop typing due to writing a book (we assume).



Tags coming soon!

3rd Podcast Episode!

Intro
Dylan's Announcement (and drinking problem) - 3:04

Gaming - 4:51
360 and Time Warner - 4:53
MLG/CEO Tournament - 6:52
Wii U Fails the Internet - 8:52
Matt Fails the Internet - 9:18
Indiana Jones with Dick and Fart Jokes - 10:43
Worst. Impression. Ever. (Sorry James Franco). - 13:47
X-box President to Zynga CEO - 14:36

Now Playing - 15:42
Dustin: The Last of Us, FTL, FF7
Matt: Borderlands 2, Minecraft (PC), Farcy 3: Blood Dragon, Guild Wars 2
Steve: UFC Undisputed 2, Madden 2006, NBA 2k5, Dungeons and Dragons (Pen and Paper)
Dylan: Gears of War 2

Entertainment News - 28:02
Captain Planet - 28:30
Good Omens about Good Omens - 29:50

Comic Books - 36:15
Frank Cho vs Facebook - 39:45
(Spoilers!) Superior Spider-Man - 43:00

Suggested Reading
Novels with Steve - 47:25
Ishmael, Gods Behaving Badly, The Blinding Knife, A Dance with Dragons, Julian Comstock: A story of 22nd-century America
Comics with Dustin and Dylan - 52:55
Star Wars: Legacy, Kick Ass (w/ Spoilers!)/ Daredevil: Born Again
Outro - 1:00:00

The Podcast is a Lie Episode 2!

So... I forgot about my post that I was supposed to write up on Saturday. I'll have it up tonight/tomorrow! In the mean time, here's the second episode of our podcast!

Upcoming from the Nerd

Just checking in so folks can know what to expect in the coming days/weeks.

Spoiler: this game is incredible.

I've been playing The Last of Us a lot recently. I'm also trying to get into some older PC games, but more on that if they actually stick. Normally, I'd do I blog post talking about The Last of Us, but we just recorded Episode II of The Podcast is a Lie and I talk about in there, so I'll forgo repeating myself. Look for that early next week, I'll make sure to note where I talk about the game.

Four guys who like it when you talk nerdy.

What I'm working on for the next couple of weeks, then, is a series of posts titled "Origin of the Nerd," which I plan to start tomorrow. I'll be talking about how I got into the things I like -- Video Games, Comic Books, and Movies/TV.

Following that, I should have another stack of Pull List issues to review, which should keep me pretty busy.

If there is anything you want to see or you'd like to let me know how the podcast is going, please leave a comment below!

The Podcast is a Lie

Remember that podcast I mentioned I was joining?

Our first episode is up!

Listen to it here then follow us here:


Facebook

Twitter

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PodOmatic

Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

The Guest Writer and The Podcast

Remember that time I mentioned I had two exciting updates? Well, here they are:

First, The Arbitrary Nerd will be getting a new guest writer, Lyco, master of all things DC Comics (well, certainly more than me, anyway) and a current resident of Japan (yeah, we just went global).

Expect an intro post from Lyco soon and, following that, some brand new content about things I know little about!


The second bit of news is that, starting in the next week or so, I've been asked to work on a brand new podcast with some like-minded (and not so like-minded) nerdy folks. I believe we're doing our first test recording next week. Keep an eye out for The Podcast is a Lie, where we'll be talking about all things nerd culture. Any stuff. Yeah, stuff.

That's it for now, but swing by soon to check out all the new stuff happening just around the corner. Also, bring a friend or two and convince them to follow us -- it boosts my ego and gives me the warm and fuzzies.

-The Nerd